Of Regrets, Sorrow, and the Good Sake
by Dango-sama
Summary: A bar, a man, a woman, and her opinions on expensive liquor and life as a shinobi.


Title: Of Regrets, Sorrow, and the Good Sake (completed)

Fandom: Naruto

Characters: Tsunade, Maito Gai

Takes place six years before the initial story line

Pairings: GaiTsu

Hurt/Comfort, Angst & Romance

Rated M

A/N: A serious attempt at a crack couple. Sort

of. I still like JiraTsu better, though. Reviews are love, and Naruto isn't mine (well, no shit, Sherlock).

Story:

It's late night, in some small village. There's a few shops, several houses, and, most importantly, a bar. It is not the best bar in the world, and sometimes the drinks are warm if there's too many customers, but it's the only bar for miles. It's a place that serves decent food and cheap sake.

Inside said bar there are only a few customers. The most notable one, however, does not sit in a booth or table like the few others there. No, she sits alone on those swivel stools, giving herself a good view of top self alcohol, which, in her current financial shape, she is in no way able to afford.

The gorgeous, forty-something-who-looks-like-she's-twenty-something, big-breasted blonde is here because she's depressed.

Except Tsunade doesn't do depressed. She does, however, do drunk, and had been planning on getting good and hammered since morning, when Shizune's nagging and her funds ( or rather, lack thereof ) had finally gotten to her. She may have lost a good chunk of her money in a poker game, but that didn't mean she couldn't afford enough of the cheap stuff to get absolutly smashed.

She's so durnk at this point in fact, that she doesn't notice when someone claims the seat next to her as his own. He, on the other hand, has never been more captivated in his life. He stared at her eyes, reflected back to her in a shallow pool of sake in her glass. The only reason she even bothered to look up at all was he ordered what was probably the most expensive liquor in the place, top shelf no less.

She watched him from the corner of her eye as he downed four, five, six glasses of the premium sake. The dimly lit bar combined with her drunken haze didn't help her as she tried to study the man's features, but he appeared to be good looking enough. He wore the Konoha chuunin's vest, telling her where he was from, and that he was at least, well, a chuunin. She tried to look at his profile. As far as she could tell, he had incredibly strong features and black hair. He appeared to be in his twenties.

She was now accutely aware that she was facing him full-on. He doesn't notice as he's too absorbed with his drink righ now, but as far as she's concerned, he's purposefully ignoring her.

And that pisses her off.

He orders another drink, and she watches as he downs it in one gulp.

If she was sober, she might have been depressed right now. But, as stated before, Tsunade doesn't do depressed. Right now she's doing drunk and pissed, and this is what finally prompts her to talk to th Leaf nin beside her.

"Hey," is the best she can do without slurring. Anything else would be too hard to understand, at least before she had more practice with the drunk-talking. "Hey yourself," is the monotonous response she recieves. The bleakness of his answer fuels her anger, and sends it rushing up. And before she knows what she's saying, the words are already out of her mouth, and she can't stop them anymore.

"You think you're tough, don't cha? You think that just 'cause you're a shinobi, and can afford the good stuff, while I'm over here drinkin' watered-down sake from a can, right?"

The man, dressed in green, looks uncomfortable in his seat. She continues her drunken tirade.

"Well, I got news for you. You're not any better off than the rest of us. One day, if you're not dead yet, you'll be like any other ninja. Old and broken, too scarred and tired and useless to do anything anymore. Not even to save your loved ones. So enjoy it, the expensive stuff, 'cause at the rate you're going, it's only a matter of time before your bottle's totally empty."

Satisfied, she placed some money on the counter, hopped off he stool, and headed for the door. Well, that was her goal, anyway. What really happned was this; not but three steps after her stool, she tripped, effictively scraping the skin off her palms in the process. "Shit, that hurt, dammnit," she mumbled.

She was not expecting help. The patrons had all gone home somewhere between glass four and glass nine. The bartender had disappeared with her money. And she certainly wasn't expecting help from the young man she had reprimanded seconds ago. Imagine her shock when she felt two hands on her arm, helping her up off the floor. She muttered a 'thanks' and tried to make a break for the door. She found that her helper had quite the grip.

"I don't know who you are or where you came from. But what you said to me back there... You might be right. But I've never really had good liquor before." He leaned in close to her ear and said, "But I fully intend to try it tonight." His voice was husky and lust-filled. Her eyes went wide and she froze. He was talking about her. Well, what was Shizune going to do? Tsunade needed to forget sometimes. Sometimes, you needed the good sake to feel better.

Funny thing with sake. Drink too much and you become a boorish, pompous dick. Drink just enough, and you suddenly feel like the most insightful person in the world.

Her frozen state didn't last long though. Soon she found herself wrapping her arms around him in some doorway, most likely his hotel room. She didn't know and frankly didn't care.

She pulled him closer and didn't bother asking for entry as she pushed her tongue in his mouth, memorising every part as the younger man moaned in return. She could feel things heating up, feel his excitement growing against her leg as be broke the kiss to go for her neck, kissing and biting everywhere as she moaned loudly, practiularily at one spot, causing his to suck and bite there. Ooh, she was going to have a bad hickey in the morning.

Strange, she didn't feel the slightest bit depressed now. As she found herself being lowered onto a bed, already half-naked and hot, she realized she wanted him to touch her, kiss her, make her feel more. She didn't protest as he settled his weight on top of her, and began kissing again. It feels too good to stop.

They know that they will most likely regret this in the morning, but they also need it, this, tonight, each for their own selfish reasons. Her, to forget what she's lost, to drown out the pain with pleasure, even if it's only temporary. Him, to recover from a more recent loss, a recent failure, though he knows that this is like adding salt to an open wound, one that will only sting worse in the morning.

Yes, because right now, they both need to escape, even if it's only temporary. Because reality hurts, and sometimes the best medicine is to close your eyes and pretend everything's okay.

•••

Of course, reality hits Gai hard the next morning, when he wakes up naked and realizes both his bed-mate and cash are gone ( well, Tsunade was low on money, and she had figured it was okay since he'd looked too drunk to even remember having money ).

His head pounded, and he desparately wanted a shower. Then he noticed a small, folded paper on the bed next to him. Upon opening it, it read:

Thanks for last night,

it was fun!

How'd you know I needed that?

See you around,

-Tsunade

He smiled and folded the note. He would have to find his pants before he put it in his pocket.

•••

A few years later, when she became the fifth Hokage, the entire night came rushing back to Gai when he saw her face again. Once, he caught her on the satircase. With out looking at her, but smiling all the same, he said,

"So, Tsunade, did you enjoy the good sake yet?"

•••End•••

A/N: While scraping out my computer, I found this from summer 2011. It's one of my better works from back then, I think, so I'm alright with the general public seeing it. *cough*onlyaftereditinghalfthestory*cough


End file.
